Wednesday, 10 April Luke 17:20 – 18:8
Written by Dr Graham Leo. ©2019.
Jesus is talking about two topics in this relatively short reading today. If we mix them up, we will fall into error. But it’s not difficult; we just need to be consistent.
The first topic is the Kingdom of God. Being asked by the Pharisees when the Kingdom of God would come, Jesus gives quite a clear answer. He says, you can’t actually point to the Kingdom of God; you can’t actually stand back and look at it, take it out of a box and examine it. We already know the reason for this. Luke has been telling us all along.
The Kingdom of God has already been inaugurated; it exists as a kind of parallel universe to our daily life in this world. We can be members of that kingdom while also being citizens of this world. The King of that kingdom was living amongst the Pharisees at that time, walking around with them – his name was Jesus.
The Kingdom of God is within you. Unfortunately, the old King James Bible mistranslated a key word in 17:21. Entos, in Greek can mean within, but it can also mean amongst. When used with a plural noun, as here (‘amongst you Pharisees’) it must mean amongst (or among – same thing, really). Logically, it couldn't possibly have meant within, since Jesus was unlikely to tell the Pharisees that the kingdom of God was within them! He is among you, or in your midst, as most modern translations say, now.
This simple mistake, made five centuries ago, left the door open to a range of wacky ideas and pseudo-mystical theories. Someone like John Lennon, of the Beatles, could imagine that it meant that the Kingdom of God was within him when he was high on drugs. As if!
(Funny though, that I have to add, ‘of the Beatles’, because it’s possible some people now won't know who John Lennon was – or the Beatles. At the height of their fame, Lennon claimed that the Beatles were more popular than Jesus. How are the mighty fallen!)
So Jesus is simply telling the people of his day that the Kingdom of God is amongst them, walking around with them, embodied in his own person.
The second topic under discussion in this passage is not the coming of the Kingdom of God. It is the Return of Jesus. This is the day of Jesus’ coming again which is promised over and over in the New Testament. In Revelation, we read that Jesus is the one ‘who was, who is and who is to come’. That coming will usher in the final fulfilment of Jesus’ kingdom. At that time, heaven will come down to earth and all will be renewed. Justice will be finally done, setting to rights all those things that have been done badly and unjustly in the world since the beginning of time.
This is why I've chosen to end our reading with the parable of the unjust judge.
Again, let’s not waste time wondering why Jesus would have commended such a scoundrel of a judge. He couldn't be bothered with helping widows and the oppressed. He was on the side of the big end of town. He belonged to all the best clubs and was on the invitation lists for all the most important gatherings.
He epitomises all that was wrong then with the justice system. If you were an honest litigant or claimant, you would struggle to find a judge who would listen to your case. Even if they agreed to listen to it, they may not treat you fairly and impartially. We’ve overcome most of that now, though it is still true that if you are poor and honest you cannot always get the kind of outcome that a rich criminal can sometimes buy.
Jesus uses this judge to argue his case. It’s an argument from extremes. If even this wicked judge would eventually listen to a woman who kept pleading her case, how much more quickly will God come to bring judgement to the earth!
In our soft modern age of churchianity, we don't like to talk much about God’s judgement. We’re afraid that people will think we are being judgemental.
There’s no more serious social sin than being judgemental. If you express an opinion contrary to a ‘trending’ opinion on social media about some popular issue, you'll be judged very quickly by people who'll tell you indignantly how wrong it is to judge!
When the Bible talks about judgement, it is nearly always in a very positive sense. Psalmists routinely cry out for judgement to come. Prophets tell us that the trees of the field will clap their hands and the mountains skip like lambs ‘when he comes to judge the earth’.
You only fear judgement when you are standing in the dock and you are guilty. We stand for the most part, not in the dock, but in the claimant’s place. We are plaintiffs bringing a complaint, not defendants, trying to defend ourselves. We cry out to God to bring justice upon the earth. We want the oppressors, the criminals, the bloodthirsty, the cheats to be found guilty. We want the righteous to be restored and the innocent to be exonerated.
Christians yearn for the day when God will judge the earth and all of its peoples, because we know that his judgement will be true and fair. So did the prophets and those who wrote the psalms.
When we say that Jesus will come as a judge, we ought not be frightened of our community reaction. All those who have shed the blood of innocents, defrauded others, taken advantage of the poor and oppressed, told lies about what it means to be truly human – they will be shown to be in the wrong. Those who have stood for the right, the true and the noble will be vindicated.
The Return of Jesus will usher in the day of God’s judgement. Everyone, the guilty and the innocent, will bow their knee and say, Jesus is Lord. And they will applaud the judgement, saying that it is fair, even if some say it through gritted teeth.
Prayer: Father God, help me to be one of those who stand up for the truth, the right and the good. It’s not always easy to do so. The social pressure to conform can be pretty strong. And it doesn't always come from the ones outside the church either!
I want to follow your pathways. I want to stand up for those who can’t stand up for themselves, the very young, the unborn, the vulnerable aged, the poor, the disabled and marginalised. Help me, please, to find a place to stand, and the courage to stay firm, there. Amen.
